Saturday, May 1, 2010

Kearsarge, April 30, 2010 (52WAV) (Firetower)

I finally found backpacks that fit the girls! We decided to try them out today on a relaxed hike up Mt. Kearsarge.

We chose short-but-steep Wilmot for the ascent.

Sage went ahead of Alex and took the lead...

...until she spotted this pretty fellow.

The three of us stood and watched him for a while before he slithered off into the woods.

We soon reached the halfway point...

...and said hello to some interesting trees...

...before reaching the fairly flat and relatively less rocky part of the trail.

Here, Sage decided to rest. She asked for the camera, then took this picture.

Alex followed suit and snapped this photo...

A few handfuls of trail mix, then off we went, up a few slabs...

and toward the sign near the top!

It was extremely windy, but the kids had fun pushing through the gusts. We made it to the summit cairn...

...and checked out the views.

Kearsarge has a wonderful fire tower on its summit...

...we went up the stairs (had to crawl in order to avoid being blown off) and met Pete, the fire warden. He was great -- he explained how he looked for smoke and coordinated his information with other wardens, then he gave the girls badges and stickers. They had a blast, this was an unexpected plus to our day.

After lounging about for a bit on the rocks, we headed down Barlow Trail.

This was a lovely walk. The upper portion of this trail is a delightful stroll down open ledges.

The bottom section is a nice walk in the woods.

We stopped so the girls could check out the carvings on the bridge....